


Prisoner 196

by DevLenko76



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Best Friends, Black Markets, Guns, Mission Fic, Rescue Missions, Thriller, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:16:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9144637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevLenko76/pseuds/DevLenko76
Summary: "He thought he was a good person. Everyone else did. He had to become a monster."Link Neal has most everything a man could ever need, but as his friendship with Rhett is on the rocks, his life changes and renders all he has obsolete.When Rhett gets lost in an explosion at an extravagant event, Link learns that he is not really dead -- he has been abducted by strangers to be sold and traded around on the black market. Link must forfeit all he is to go find his partner... no matter the price.





	

They were not on speaking terms, but as far as Link Neal was concerned, it didn't matter all that much.

Every day for five days a week it was the same cycle. They would come in and write, film if they needed to, eat lunch separately, work in their offices that they no longer shared. They would not look at each other, not speak to one another, and not acknowledge that either of them existed to the other unless they were on set, or if they went to events. They never texted or called each other; their only strings of contact they let exist were their employees.

This was all six months in the making, and in Rhett McLaughlin's opinion, an unnecessary eternity. He remembered, just like his (now strictly) business partner, how it came to it. He thought about it when he didn't want to, dreamt about it and woke up periodically throughout most nights. He had figured it would just pass and they would make up and move on, but as time progressed he was quite perturbed at how that _didn't_ happen. And there had been plenty of opportunities -- office time, lunch time, whenever either were at home, even texting. He had searched for a good moment to work it out and explain himself, to let Link explain himself, to mend the would and revert back to the way things used to be... the way things were _supposed_ to be.

He never could find that moment.

He didn't know if it was out of cowardice, or the notion of what would happen if he tried. And then he figured it was both, because every time he would even dare to glance at Link, the other man would just stare expressionlessly at him with the coldest eyes he had ever seen. Those pale, piercing grey eyes that gripped him with a strange and wildly unfamiliar fear, one that Rhett had never felt for as long as he had known his childhood friend. Something had very much stirred within Link that Rhett could not see nor understand. The man would smile at everyone else, shake everyone else's hand, pat everyone else's backs and shoulders, praise everyone else, laugh with _anyone_ else -- with Rhett no longer fitting into that picture. He treated him as if he were nothing.

And in turn, Rhett had to choose to do the same.

 

_Six months earlier_

 

"That's not a very good idea."

"I don't see why not. It's plausible, it's kid-friendly, and I think it'll get a few internal laughs."

"Trust me man, it's not a good idea."

"Alright, whatever," said Link, rising up from his seat. "Forget about my idea. I don't think yours is any better. So let's declare this session of ideas a scrap."

Rhett shrugged just one shoulder as he was raising his eyebrows and leaning forward in his chair. "Okay. Sounds like it should be done. I wrote 'em down though, just in case.... Yours included. We'll do that much with them."

Link paced around as he looked at his phone. "Have you picked up your suit for the cocktail party?"

Rhett's eyes flit around a couple times and stared straight ahead before he scrunched his eyebrows and said, "I'm supposed to pick it up today, I think."

His dark-haried partner did not look up from his phone, but his tone changed as he replied, "You better have it by Friday. That's when we're going. And we're leaving early, at 4. So you better have it by then."

"Yeah, okay, okay, I know man. I'll go by today and get it. I just couldn't remember if I had it due for today or tomorrow. Maybe yesterday. We've been busy, so I just forgot, but I'll go in today man."

Link didn't say anything in reply, just gave his friend one glance out of the corner of his eye. Otherwise his attention was never completely diverted from his phone. Rhett wondered what was so important; it was common nowadays to be glued to a gadget, but lately Link didn't seem to be so concerned with the world outside of the digital one.

Especially when they were together.

"You wanna come with me? We can grab lunch on the way."

There were a few seconds of unresponsiveness, and Rhett almost felt like his life was on the line waiting to be answered to. Link again glanced at him, only once as he said, "I don't think I can. I'm gonna have to go home and help Christy with the kids. You know the deal, don't you?"

They hadn't gone out to eat together in weeks. At first it did seem as if there was actual trouble at home, maybe from their moody adolescents, but talk from Rhett's wife Jessie let him know that all was well in the Neal household. Even though it would be very responsible of Link to help his own wife with their family, Christy didn't call for or need his help as much as he let on. Rhett finally figured out along the way that Link was seemingly and most likely avoiding him, more than anything he could think of. The only part he couldn't figure out was the _'why'_ part.

He eyed Link carefully, but he made sure not to give anything away. Clearing his throat and shrugging, he said, "Yeah, sure. I know. It's whatever man. Just be sure to come up with a good idea while you do that." he chuckled.

The dark-haired man looked up from his phone, knit his eyebrows together and looked at Rhett without any evident trace of humor.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rhett briefly froze, bewildered that his partner would react that way. "Oh, it's not supposed to mean anything. I'm just joking, man, because we couldn't agree on any of our ideas a few minutes ago."

Link stared at him for a few seconds before tucking his phone into his pocket and turning away, grabbing his denim jacket and slipping it on his lithe frame. "I don't think that's true, but whatever."

His bearded half scrunched up his eyebrows further and stared at his friend incredulously. They were on the cusp of a petty argument, he already knew.

"What? No, I'm serious. I was playing around, man."

"No, you weren't. I know how you are, whatever you're actually thinking always comes out as a 'joke'. It's whatever."

" _No,_ " Rhett tried to keep himself composed, "I _really_ was joking. Dude--"

"I said it's whatever."

"I am _so_ damn serious right now," Rhett was getting frustrated. "If you're gonna let some stupid, stupid joke get under your skin, then maybe I should be glad we're not hanging out."

"Yeah, okay. I said it's whatever, but you keep pressing it on to try to cover up your b.s."

A few seconds of silence followed. Finally Rhett stood up, grabbed his jacket and stormed out of there.

It was ridiculous, he thought. There was no reason he needed to be acting this way, and it had been going on for a while now. Numerous times for the past few weeks, Rhett could recall each encounter with his friend's short temper, each time Link snapped at him for something completely absurd and utterly harmless. The man had become bitchier than he had ever been before; Rhett had always known his friend to be touchy and rather impatient, but it was growing increasingly worse. He couldn't figure out _why_. For the first time in a while, not knowing the _why_ greatly unnerved him and dug down deep into his core.

He had to know, because he always knew.

He was only halfway down the hallway, and Link didn't seem to be coming out. Stopping, he exhaled sharply, shook his head and turned on his heel, heading back down to their office space and reentering the room.

"Something's up," he said rather abruptly. Link just stared at him.

"Up?"

"Yeah, something's up. With you. You've been -- you're not -- dude, you've been an asshole. I don't know what's the matter with you, and I don't know what I did, but I can't think of anything that will let this make sense. There's absolutely no reason for you to be acting like this. What's your problem? What, did I do something? Because you're giving me _nothing_ but _shit_."

"Shit is exactly it." Link's voice was high and steady, but his gaze had become so intense that Rhett didn't think he could be capable of such ferocity. "You know what you did. Don't even act like you have absolutely no clue."

"Apparently I don't know. Did you not hear me? I have no idea, man."

"Oh yes, you do," Link's voice rose. He wasn't going to back down; this would be an equally heated confrontation. "You know what you did, and you know what you still do. You're an egotistical son of a bitch, and I quite frankly do not trust you anymore."

" _What are you talking about?"_

"You _know_ what I'm talking about, Rhett. You fucking _know_. Nothing I say is good or important, you take credit for all the shit we do, and I'm not going to forget what you did at the last awards party."

Rhett suddenly felt accountable even though he didn't completely get what his friend was saying. And he could very much remember that recent event; it had gone well.

"Okay, what did I do?"

Link never changed his tone or stance as he said, "You stole my words and put me down in front of everybody. I know the joke is that you're the businessman and I'm the boy, but that's not what it was. You took over my entire speech and made me look like an idiot. And I was supposed to just stand there and let you do that? I couldn't do a thing. I had to play it off like it was nothing. Your ego could've filled that entire damn room, and you still aren't gonna own up to it are you?"

"So then why didn't you talk to me about it?" Rhett boomed, "Why do you always let these things stay silent and get worse until it becomes this?"

"Because you'd still do it, like you _still_ do. You don't like or agree with anything I say, with anything I put out. It's like it doesn't matter. If I'm gonna be honest, I can't stand you anymore."

"Then leave!" Rhett was close to yelling. "Because I can't stand you either. If you're wondering why I've been the way I am -- which I think you're exaggerating -- then it's probably because you've been even stupider and more thoughtless than usual."

Link was suddenly up in his face, hissing at him. In the midst of all of it, Rhett couldn't remember a time when something like this had happened. College, maybe, but something was different now. There would be no more jokes tonight.

"You think you know _everything_ ," Link snarled, "That you're the only one who's right, the only one who gives a damn about anything here that _we_ built, that _we_ do. I'm sick of you. I'm sick of being here with you and I'm sick of being only half of something. I'm sick, sick, sick, _sick_ of it--"

"Get out of my face."

"Being pushed around--"

"Get out of my face."

"What are you gonna do? Huh? What are you gonna--"

" _Get out of my face!"_

Rhett's hands landed flat on Link's face and shoved him away, his head swiveling around as he teetered back. In that split second, the slight violent reaction to an unwanted aggression caused another violent reaction that had never happened between the two of them, and a hot friction was inspired as what was once one became two.

Link whipped back and punched Rhett square in the jaw.

It was at once that both men were on the floor, tumbling about and fighting for dominance. At equal points either of them would be on top of the other, then there would be a kick or another strike and positions would be switched. Tables and various objects were knocked over, shattering some and damaging others. Rhett managed to pin Link down by the shoulders, punching him a few times and causing the other man to shriek in pain, but the brunet soon got the upper hand as he twisted his entire body, kneed Rhett in the stomach and held him down by his throat.

He choked him momentarily, then proceeded to beat the man senseless. It was punch after slap after strike, banging Rhett's head down constantly on the hard floor as both men screamed bloody murder at each other.

Running sounded down the hallway. Three pairs of feet entered the room, and three pairs of hands flew to the bloodied men on the floor.

" _Stop! Break it up! Link, get off of him, you're gonna kill him!"_

_"You guys! You're gonna kill him, stop! STOP!"_

Their employees, Eddie, Chase and Morgan were prying them apart and struggling to restrain them, but compared to Rhett and even Link, they could only come close to their strength and size by the three of them. Eddie and Morgan held Link against the wall while Chase helped Rhett sit up. Two more employees, Lizzie and Kevin, came down and just stood in the doorway, shocked and stricken.

As the fight was successfully halted, Link could only glare viciously, mouth dripping with blood and spattered with a bit of his opponent's own. Rhett definitely had the worst of it: his eyes were both red and bruised, his nose a bloody mess, his mouth busted and coated in the same crimson. His throat had red hand marks and he cold feel the burning heat swelling throughout his whole head. Link held his gaze as he leaned to spit blood.

"What is going on here?" Lizzie cried. They could only tell by her voice that she was shaking. "What happened?"

When no one could answer right away, she stormed down the hall, leaving Kevin standing dumbstruck in the doorway. She was probably on her way to get Stevie; even though Stevie was still very much the boss, she still had to answer to the big men herself, so Kevin wondered just what she would be able to do.

Link tore himself from Eddie and Morgan, but he was done fighting. He spit out more blood, smoothed over his hair, and left the room. Rhett didn't watch him go.

 

_I saw the gap again today_

_While you were begging me to stay_

_Take care not to make me enter_

_If I do we both may disappear._

_You know that I will choke until I swallow_

_Choke this infant here before me_

_What is this but my reflection?_

_Who am I to judge or strike you down?_

_But you're pushing and shoving me._

 

***

Good Mythical Morning had been a fairly enjoyable experience and quite a significant part of their careers, and they had planned for it to go on for as long as possible. There were many great memories and jokes and moments that were captured during the course of the show. Their audience was very broad and expansive throughout many states and foreign countries. Their overall work paid and rewarded them well, and happiness was never too scarce.

However, in their current state, Rhett and Link found filming and producing their popular show a mandatory menace.

Writing was not an issue, as they had many good people who they could work with separately. They didn't have to be in the same room.

It was filming that was the worst part -- especially for Rhett.

They both knew how to fake it, of course. They were professional fakers, because that was the dirty part of their job they had to learn. While he was sure Link hated being on set with him as he much as he did, Rhett had a harder time trying to smooth everything out while they were together.

At first, each episode went a little like this:

Link would open with the intro ("Let's talk about that", "Good Mythical Morning!"), and he would also speak first and lead their audience into their topic of discussion, whether it be a game, a story or a taste test, and that would take about a minute or two. Then Rhett would add on, although very carefully. He made sure to take extra measures to keep from irking his partner in the slightest. They both would never make direct eye contact with each other (especially Rhett), although Link would occasionally glance at Rhett from the corner of his eye, or look at him straight into a separate monitor, chilling Rhett to the bone. Their usual chemistry was quite shifty, and there were a lot of fake laughs and awkward moments here and there. Their crew would only laugh to help ease the apparent discomfort felt by everyone on set. Good Mythical More (the after-show) also became significantly and consistently shorter, about 5 or 6 minutes per episode.

Then, after about a month of this morbid misery and fans complaining that it was all rather dull, there was more and more friction that came about.

Rhett decided to speak more and even talk over Link. He would deliberately look at him, but never receive full eye contact. There was still no touching, definitely not, but sometimes Rhett would lean just a little closer to his business partner to test the waters. Their crew would watch silently and brace themselves for the worst, holding their breaths each time they could see either of them about to break character.

But if either of them seemed to be even slightly ticked off, they would smile almost poisonously and return to their topic.

Fans were worried, annoyed, and in some circles, quite entertained. Their crew would advise the men to either make up or break up, or take their fans' feedback heavily into account. Yet, no matter what was said, what was done was just the opposite. Both men continued this cycle of passive-aggressive behavior that no one could predict the end or the eternity of.

 

When Stevie found out, she was ultimately confused and livid.

"He really beat the shit out of him."

"Who knew that was hidden deep inside?"

"Yeah, who knew that Link was secretly possessed."

"Possessed? No, I think _he_ controls the demon."

Chase, Eddie, Alex, Morgan and Mike were going back and forth about what had just happened. Chase had a bit of Rhett's blood on his shirt, and even though he didn't want to be there, the rest of the boys urged him to show Stevie when she got there. Got there she did, and throw a fit she did.

She demanded to see the both of them; everyone knew that wasn't about to happen. She hardly ever got like this, but despite her sweet and laid-back nature, she was a determined and hard-working employee who lost sleep over the two men and their work. Everybody knew more shit was about to go down, but they doubted she could fix it this time. Rhett had practically ran on out of there when he felt fine enough. Neither him nor Link answered their phones, and after about a million texts and calls, Stevie and any of their other employees decided to call it a day. Their bosses were okay at the moment. They would just wait until the fire settled down and work for them would resume.

 

Their offices were separated in such a way that there would be little to no contact between on-set work and necessary pass-bys. Many weeks later, Lizzie approached Link after having gone through a grief-stricken Stevie.

"Come in," he said, not looking up from whatever held his attention on his desk. The door to his office opened, and there Lizzie simply stood, hands clasped together in front of her, as if clenching her nervousness.

"Mr. Neal."

His gaze found hers at this formality, and quite instantly his tired face softened as he gestured for her to come in. She swayed in the doorway, almost sighing and stepped further into the room. She closed the door behind her but did not move any closer.

"Hey Lizzie, what's up?"

Lizzie smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Link could very much tell that she was having a difficult time trying to find the words she had rehearsed, but as impatient as he was he decided to wait and give her her time.

"Mr. Neal, I've come to tell you that... Mr. Neal, I'm leaving."

The faint smile he sported slowly dissipated as the words sank in, hitting him one by one and causing him to lean forward, his usually narrowed eyes focusing intently on her.

"Leaving?"

She pursed her lips; she was already regretting coming to Link first. Rhett would have been more understanding, talking to her thoroughly about it, but he would not give her the impression she was doing something wrong. Link was already pressuring her inadvertently and having known him as the friendliest boss she had ever worked for, she knew that he would be shifty with her and press her heavily, putting her on the spot. Looking down, then back up again, she took a much needed breath.

"Yes, sir," she answered. "I'm leaving. I know this is very unexpected -- and unplanned -- but I don't feel comfortable or secure in this job anymore."

"Lizzie," Link was trying to be gentle, "please tell me why?"

She paused. He waited, avoiding the urge to tap his hands or feet. He almost panicked as he could see her eyes suddenly getting moist.

"I already talked to Stevie about it, and she understands." Her voice was wavering, becoming weaker. "I can't do it, Mr. Neal. It's nothing I want to see or experience any longer. This constant tension in the workplace, being on set with you, working on something that doesn't seem to... that doesn't seem very meaningful, at least not as much as it used to. I ask that you understand and let me go without any hard feelings, because I thank you for everything, for giving me a job that did teach me a lot and that I did love."

Link was looking down as he leaned forward on his elbows, and then closed his eyes. There was a long bout of silence, and Lizzie almost feared what he would say, if he would be angry with her or if he would just let her go without a caring word.

She wasn't the only one. They had lost two other employees previously, and their reasons were very much the same thing. Sighing, Link opened his eyes and looked at her calmly.

"Alright. We'll miss you. Your work was wonderful, and I wish you all the luck for the future."

And that was it.

 

_Rest your trigger on my finger,_

_Bang my head upon the fault line._

_You'd better take care not to make me enter_

_'Cause if I do we both may disappear._

 

***

Film day. They would be filming two episodes today (as it was known discreetly, multiple episodes were shot in a day), and for everyone that was two episodes too long. One of them would include a game and the other would be a reading of a top ten list. The top ten list had everyone less than hopeful, but the game kept them on edge. Episodes that required more speech and interaction made them quite fearful that just one word, one accidental touch, anything considered insignificant and harmless would trigger a chemical reaction from the both of them and cause a meltdown. A few agreed that would definitely be something to see, and if they could get something juicy on camera and be allowed to submit it, then maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

Yet as they filmed, they found themselves biting their lips, their fingernails, the inside of their cheeks. Hoping and praying to deities they believed in and deities they hoped were there, that everything would go smoothly.

So they made the game last.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Rhett said into the camera, "I'll be a winner today."

"Mm, we'll see." Link looked at him through the monitor, smirking a bit but nothing else. He would be reading off the questions and their answers from his laptop. The prize was a secret to be revealed by Link personally in Good Mythical More.

"First question."

As Link rattled off the trivia, Rhett did his best to answer correctly while being mildly entertaining. It could be seen in Link's face, that he wanted very much to scowl at the bearded man, to grimace or give a snide remark, but he remained solid, the corners of his mouth occasionally turning up to fool the audience into thinking he cared about what his partner had to say. Their personal and business relationship had not gotten better, and if not it worsened, but their chemistry on camera was getting there. Faking it now was definitely painful but a whole lot easier.

Rhett came out having 8 out of 10 correct (it can be imagined how that greatly annoyed the other man), and he whooped with surprising joy. No, he was not looking forward to the 'prize' Link apparently had for him, but he was happy that he could win right in front of him. Despite everything, it gave him a little satisfaction.

"Alright, he wins," Link said. "Surprised? Tune in for Good Mythical More to see what he gets in return for this victory. You know what time it is."

After a half-assed Wheel ending (an agonizing unisong), the two men forced themselves to talk about the game for a few minutes, leading up to the prize reveal. This was common routine that they had to stick to to maintain a sense of familiarity on the show. Talking to each other had passed the purely awkward, morbid stage and into the catty exchanges that had everyone in the comments raving. The both of them were very much fluent in the language of sarcasm, practicing it in their work consistently, but Rhett had learned to completely master the art of sardonicism. It was a game of constant tackling, going back and forth with disparaging words that they would softly chuckle at; many swore they could see them looking at each other's throats. They just played it off, their rough surfaces traveling down a smooth current.

Needless to say, everybody's job was harder.

"So what do I get?"

Link rolled up his sleeves, raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair shrugging.

"I don't know, I can't say. You'll have to look underneath the table. In that bag, right down there."

Rhett scrunched up his face, cocking his head a little, clearly unsure and unprepared. He shook it off and carefully bent down, but then had to settle for crouching to the floor entirely. There was a bag, but it was empty.

"What...."

Suddenly the rough feeling of strong finger-tips jabbed into his sides, pricking his flesh with bruising sensations. As he hollered his surprise, he began to realize that he was being... _tickled_.

Link was _tickling_ him.

The crew had gasped very audibly, but as they began to realize the deadliness of the situation, they replaced their shock with howling laughter. Link had this funny look on his face while his fingers dug into the other man, and he put his put on top of the man's back. Rhett squirmed and tried to get out from under him. At the same time, as he was struggling and making an effort not to get violent, he was genuinely surprised and briefly confused -- but then the tickling stopped, and he slowly rose from the floor.

"There, that's your prize, boy," Link said. He unrolled his sleeves and leaned on one elbow, staring into the camera with a smirk on his face. Rhett sat in his chair, quietly disgruntled as he stared at the other man. The crew giggled in the background. As Link started laughing too, Rhett began to laugh....

But when their eyes met, there was nothing in Link's eyes for him, even as a toothy smile graced his features. Rhett realized that he had just been pulling a stunt to set the equilibrium of the show. He bet in his mind that Link would later go to the bathroom and disinfect his hands. Any newfound hope or related feelings quickly dissipated, and when he left the building that day he had a constant sinking feeling in his chest.

 

Settled in the driver's seat of his car, Rhett was just buckling up when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a text from Stevie.

_L says don't forget to get your suit today. Tomorrow is Saturday._

He sighed, and sent back:

_Alright, thanks Stevie._

 

On his way to pick up his suit, he went through the same thoughts he had developed routinely for a while now. He wondered how long it would be. He wondered how long they would have to be communicating this way, through messengers, through little birdies. How long they were going to ignore each other, how long it would take until one of them cracked. He didn't know, and he _hated_ that he didn't know. He couldn't even guess. All of his guesses had been wrong and outdated up to this point. He even wondered, and thoroughly questioned himself, why _he_ wasn't doing anything about it. Each time he would rack his brain for solutions and go over what was logical about the situation. At first he thought, 'well, if Link doesn't want to, then I shouldn't push him. He'll come through, he always has.' Then he thought, 'it'll be over soon. He can be stubborn, and so can I.' Yet, as nothing seemed to be happening, he still questioned himself.

He realized that all his courage had run out.

And for what reason? Would it be so bad to get punched again? Wouldn't that mean that he wasn't the bad guy, that he would finally get an answer? What was so frightening to him that he couldn't bear to face the one he swore he'd always be there for?

And always at the end of it, he never found a clear answer. Just fear, confusion, loneliness and frustration in its rawest form.

But he still managed to briefly reassure himself that all wasn't lost. Their career wasn't down the toilet just yet. He figured from all that had happened that it would take much more than a stupid fight to tear everything apart, even if there indeed was a massive hole lying in the middle of it.

In bed next to his wife, he lay still, staring up at the ceiling and imagining stars. It was pleasant, and he rolled over to go to sleep, until he became restless once more remembering the star he had bought for the man he loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic... it feels dirty even though I won't be doing anything sexual or romantic. 
> 
> But I will definitely have fun with this! And I hope you enjoy it. I eventually will be using this as my own separate story, but I decided that Rhett and Link would be awesome to use as characters... Sort of like a test drive for the story. And it's intriguing to imagine what would happen if they ever got in a situation like this.
> 
> The song lyrics I used are "Pushit" by the band Tool. 
> 
> Please tell me what you think, make it critical, make it constructive, but I must know! Thank you :)


End file.
